Lelavision to fire up ‘Heavy Metal DëVices’ for human performers

Maybe it’s something about that umlaut — but if you’re a fan of Vashon Island performance duo Lelavision, the title alone of their new production, “Lelavision’s Heavy Metal DëVices,” will have you in a state of keen anticipation. The show is a retrospective featuring 20-odd metallic contraptions that Lelavision co-founder Ela Lamblin has come up with over the past two decades, in which human performers are squeezed before springing into playful, rambunctious action.

Lamblin describes his inventions — which have names like “The Pandemonium,” the “Violcano” and the “Stamenphone” — as “big objects as likely to flip a body 16 feet in the air on a steel pyramid as they are to produce exotic melodies that would soothe the wildest child or the staunchest art critic.”

Lelavision co-director Leah Mann, serving as choreographer, uses her wiles to fuse performers and devices into one. For this show, the duo is being joined by a cast of dancers, musicians and theater artists. Expect some kid-friendly hallucinatory fare!